I need advice with leaking acrylic 300g.....

[Jim in Michiana]

Picked up a 300g acrylic a few weeks ago......... Rented a truck, dragged it home, built a stand, installed new bulkheads, installed all new plumbing and wet/dry, washed 250lbs. of sand, put in 750 lbs. of rock, and now........ THE D*MN THING STARTS TO LEAK !!!

Not a major leak, but any leak is no good.......

It appears that the seams in opposite corners of the tank both have tiny leaks...... the drip rate is probably 2 drips per minute each...... The seams in these 2 corners appear a little cloudy compared to the other 2 corners that are watertight.

Upon finding the drips, I immediately drained the tank. I was afraid of having a panel blow out completely. Mission accomplished. The tank now sits only with some wet sand and rocks.

I know I need to repair this, but my question is "How"?

I'm thinking that installing a 1" square acrylic piece on the inside corner with Weldon will be a durable repair. The tank stock is 3/4". I've also located some 3/4" acrylic triangular stock. Does anyone see any advantage/disadvantage to using triangular stock ?

I'd like to hear from people who have experience working with acrylic as to what would be the best repair. I'd also like to know if this would be a DIY type project, or should I seek professional assistance ?

Thanks, Jim

 

[The1and only]

I bought a tank that was repaired with square stock and it looked horrible. I eventually cut the tank apart and am saving the acrylic for plywood builds. I would go with the triangular stock. I would also completely empty and clean the tank. I cracked the back of my 60 gallon reef when getting a bit rough with the plumbing and repaired it with out taking down the tank, and it worked it just looks like crap.
I would get some weld on 4. it is more liquid than the 16
put the triangle stock in the corners making sure it is a tight fit then use a squeeze bottle to inject the weld on in to the seam.
The key is to make sure everything is clean and fits tight before you start then the process goes very smooth. If you don't it will not go well and be very frustrating.